Dove Stai Correndo
by Ourliazo
Summary: Squalo regrets not staying with the Varia, because at least then he'd be stuck in this new world with people he could rely on. The hitman and the Giglio Nero have been kidnapped, the marshmallow has a head injury, both Hibari clones have turned into bloodhounds and the Vindice isn't helpful at all.
1. Forest, kidnapping, injury

Title: Dove Stai Correndo

Summary: Squalo regrets not staying with the Varia, because at least then he'd be stuck in this new world with people he could rely on. The hitman and the Giglio Nero have been kidnapped, the marshmallow has a head injury, both Hibari clones have turned into bloodhounds and the Vindice isn't helpful at all.

Background: Transportation to another world, forest setting, kidnapping, injury.

.

* * *

Squalo wakes with a start, the seatbelt cutting into him and nauseous from hanging upside down. Thunder shakes the world, almost drowned out by the torrents of rain bucketing down, hammering the bottom of the car and rushing through his open window to form puddles on the ceiling that soak Squalo's dangling hair and sleeves.

It might just be the storm but Squalo thinks everything is too dark to be daytime anymore. Lightning illuminates the pitch-black world in flashes and Squalo sees movement in the front passenger seat. Kyouya has one forearm braced against the roof of the flipped car and is sawing at the stuck belt with the spikes on his tonfa.

Squalo elbows Byakuran, the albino hanging in the backseat with him. The Don doesn't stir and another flash of lightning details the blood seeping into cracks on the window.

"Fuck," Squalo growls.

He should have stayed in the Varia car, just ignored those shits instead of storming out and finding another free car in the convoy. Kyouya was already inside, along with the driver. Squalo doesn't know the blond man -he's from Giglio Nero- but it seemed tolerable.

The driver is too nice though because instead of driving off with the other cars he waited for the last few people to arrive, which is how they ended up with Byakuran, who had taken time to make himself a hot chocolate for the road.

Squalo hooks his prosthetic under the driver's headrest and bends forward, his back horizontal with the ceiling. He unclicks the belt and falls heavily, a few seconds after Kyouya hits the roof in the front.

Squalo thinks, impatiently, that the others are taking too long to help. It was some ridiculous holiday bullshit that they needed to drive four hours to get to. Only the Vongola and Varia at first but the Bronco joined in and that opened the doors for the Simon, Millefiore and even the Arcobaleno.

Squalo squirms out of the open window, fingers sinking into mud and leaflitter as he crawls out, becoming instantly soaked to the bone despite the beige and black Varia trench coat. He braces himself against a car wheel and looks around, unable to see through the dark in the first place, but even when lightning hits, the heavy rain makes it impossible. There are trees so he calls it a forest and leaves it at that.

He ducks back down to get his sword lying on the ceiling. A shadow moves along the other side of the car and Byakuran's door groans under pressure. There's someone still missing – not in the seat and not out here either despite the open door.

"Voi!" Squalo roars over the rain. "Where's the Giglio Nero trash?"

The other back door cracks loudly and splatters into the mud, completely wrenched off the car. Kyouya says something but he's too quiet and the weather drowns him out.

Squalo scowls and moves around the car. "Trash! Where's the fucking driver? Did you see where he went?"

Byakuran is bright white so he's slightly more visible in the dark as Kyouya drags him out of the car. The world lights up and Squalo sees half of Byakuran's hair is dyed red but the man's eyes are open and looking up at Kyouya in a daze.

Squalo straps his sheathed sword back to his belt and grabs a fist full of the albino's jacket, hauling him up and holding him by the waist to keep him standing.

"What. What happened?" Byakuran slurs, hooking an arm over Squalo's shoulders after a few tries and leaning heavily.

"Don't know," Squalo grunts. "Cloud trash, the driver?"

Kyouya shakes his head but then gestures at the front of the car with a tonfa. Squalo moves around, half carrying and half dragging Byakuran, only to curse. There are tracks in the mud now that Squalo is looking; from the driver's door, around the front of the car and off. Someone was dragged away.

"What are we - doing?" Byakuran asks, sounding faded. "What's happening? We were on the road. I don't. Don't remember."

"Neither do I," Squalo says, more distracted by whether to follow the trail or not.

"No," Byakuran insists. "I really don't. I – think I hit my head."

Squalo catches Byakuran's hand with his prosthetic before the Don can touch the wound. "Listen. We all got knocked out," Squalo explains impatiently but slowly. "I don't remember what ran us off the road. You hit your head, but you aren't missing memories."

Byakuran blinks slowly, trying to register everything.

"Can you see shelter?" Squalo asks Kyouya. "The road?" They need to get Byakuran somewhere, deal with the headwound, and then hunt down whatever took the other one.

Kyouya moves off. Byakuran stumbles when they follow so Squalo simply heaves the man up into a fireman's carry. The overturned car is at the base of a steep incline. They move up, feet slipping in the mud and leaflitter. Squalo attaches his sword to his hand and stabs it into the ground for extra stability.

Larger trees have gouges carved out of the trunks while smaller ones are snapped in half and everything else is flattened. They get halfway up the hill and pause because there's a huge divot in the ground and then the damage disappears.

It looks like the car suddenly fell from a great height and rolled down the hill but there's nothing above that they could have drove off of.

Kyouya paces around for a moment but comes back, close enough that Squalo can actually hear him. "There's nothing. I'll keep going. Take that one down."

"Let's swap," Squalo says instead. "He's slipping, I can't hold him properly."

Kyouya frowns but takes Byakuran off Squalo's shoulders.

"I'm fine," Byakuran says, blinking a lot to keep rain and blood out of his eyes. "I can walk. Where's. Gamma. Where's Gamma?"

Kyouya puts his tonfas away to pull Byakuran over his shoulders and heads back down the steep slope. The ground is more difficult to navigate with the extra weight and Kyouya slips. He goes low and leans back, sliding the rest of the way down on his feet and stumbling with the momentum when the ground evens out again.

"Where's Gamma?" Byakuran asks again softly, slurring even more now. "Uni will. Upset. If I lose him."

"Quiet," Kyouya orders.

Even in this state the herbivore won't stop talking. Kyouya moves them back towards the car. It will be out of the rain and they can just sit on the ceiling. Maybe it will turn on and they can get some light.

Kyouya hears the loud one roaring from the top of the hill.

Water has pooled into the car with all the doors open but it's manageable. Kyouya lays Byakuran down, straight along the middle so the man fits completely inside. He goes through the Don's pockets to find a phone because Kyouya tried his for the flashlight earlier and it won't turn on.

Byakuran's doesn't turn on either despite a lack of damage. Fine. Kyouya lights Cloud flames along one of his tonfas and holds it up to the other man's head so he can see the injury. He ends up ripping part of his suit jacket's sleeve off to stem the sluggish bleeding.

"Hold it," Kyouya demands.

Byakuran tries but he can't even keep his eyes open. Kyouya uses his tie to keep the pressure on, wrapping it around Byakuran's head.

There's movement outside, only caught in the rapid flashes of lightning. Kyouya takes out his other tonfa, quickly putting out the flames and waiting. It's not the Varia coming back. It's difficult to hear over the heavy rain but this one doesn't have the same stomping stride.

Whoever it is moves closer, circling the car. Light steps, sure steps even in the mud.

Kyouya bursts from the driver's open door and Fon dodges cleanly. Kyouya halts and straightens up, letting his tonfas fall. Another person, further back, moves forward and Kyouya can make out the thick cloak of a Vindice officer but with the usual top hat missing.

Jaeger had been sent to join the famiglias because whenever they gather, they always cause enough of a commotion that civilians are usually dragged into it, and the Vindice have to deal with that in the end regardless. This time Bermuda hoped to stop anything before it becomes an issue.

Jaeger got into a car with the two Arcobaleno. They drove off first with just the three of them, Reborn being the driver and not willing to wait for stragglers. The hitman stopped off at a cafe to get espresso anyway, so they ended up being the second last car when they got onto the road again.

Then a blank span of nothing.

Jaeger regained consciousness with the front of the car bent around a particularly sturdy tree. Reborn was already gone and Fon was searching around outside. They heard someone calling and moved towards the direction, hoping for the other cars to be waiting on a road.

"Kyouya," Fon greets with an even tone but sounds a bit rushed. "Have you seen Reborn?"

Kyouya shakes his head. "The herbivore with Lightning wolves, Gamma, he's gone too. There's an injured one in the car."

Jaeger crouches down to peer through the passenger side's open door. He finds the Millefiore Don lying still and checks the pulse. Alive at least. Fon and Kyouya continue to talk with each other, Jaeger catching bits and pieces about tracking and hunting through the rain.

A Varia comes back, the swordsman, a deep scowl on his face when he sees Jaeger. "Why are you still here?"

Jaeger understands quickly because Fon asked the same. "I can no longer feel Bermuda, nor any other Vindice."

"What do you mean?" Squalo snaps. "What, you're too far away?"

"This is not our world," Jaeger corrects with certainty because he has never before been cut off from Bermuda's flames, no matter how far he travels.

Squalo looks around, glaring through the rain. "Fuck that, I'm already done with this shit."

Fon steps forward. "Jaeger and I passed the base of a cliff on the way here. It has an overhang at least so you and Jaeger should move Byakuran to shelter. Kyouya and I will find Reborn and Gamma."

Both Jaeger and Squalo start to protest but Kyouya talks over them. "You are both useless trackers. You would waste time we do not have with the rain already washing away the trail."

Jaeger frowns behind bandages. His flames no longer have an anchor so it is difficult to orientate himself. He spent most of the walk over stumbling behind the Arcobaleno, who must have told the Vongola about it. "Fine." He ducks down and starts to pull Byakuran from the car.

"No, not fine," Squalo barks. "The Vindice can stay with the Sky trash, I'll be looking as well."

No one seems to be willing to argue. Fon takes off first, quickly disappearing through the rain, followed by Squalo. Kyouya moves slower but looks closer; counting the sets of footprints, guessing the height and watching for if longer weapons were dragged along the ground.

Jaeger lifts the unconscious Sky and takes him a different route. He stays alert but no one bothers him on the way to the base of the cliff. There are several concaved spaces carved out of the rock but most are flooded.

He eventually finds a good enough one. Dry but rather small. Jaeger lies Byakuran down and checks the headwound. It's stopped bleeding but that's all he can really tell. Jaeger never took an interest in first aide and it became useless anyway when he took on Night flames and his body changed.

Jaeger waits, standing near the entrance throughout the night. He needs no rest, but the others do. Kyouya is the first to come back after a few hours. He explains about the tracks from both cars leading up to a flooded river when Jaeger asks.

The kidnappers, people with matching shoes, followed the strong current to hide the rest of their already faded tracks. It's pointless searching anymore in the dark but Fon went downstream so Squalo insisted on going upstream. Squalo arrives when dawn breaks but Fon never does.

Fon can no longer find tracks but he keeps going along the overfilled riverbank. The people couldn't have gone up, not with such a strong current, not carrying both Gamma and Reborn.

Perhaps he's gone too far during the night but when day breaks it occurs to him that the people must have been walking for just as long as him. Maybe they got to the cars faster than Fon first presumed because Fon has been moving swiftly and he must have caught up by now. The group was large when the two tracks came together.

Fon thinks about turning back but as he looks around he catches sight of a bright green lizard on the ground across the river.

Fon wades through the water, swimming when it becomes too deep. He gets swept further down but eventually scoops Leon up and the lizard turns around in his hand like a compass, pointing the way.

The footprints are well and truly gone but Fon starts to see scratches in the tree trunks or snapped branches on the ground. Fon speeds up. Gamma must have awoken because if it was Reborn then there would corpses instead of breadcrumbs.

Fon crouches low and stays behind trees as he starts approaching a large man-made clearing. Trees have been cut down to make solid wooden cabins camouflaged with leaves and mud. Brown or green six-man tents have been scattered around between the larger cabins in uniform rows.

There are patrols moving at the edge of camp and in the trees while all the people are dressed in the same varyingly green clothes that never seems to develop wrinkles even when moving. Heavy waterproof jackets with hoods up, pants with lots of pockets and thick boots that come up to just under the knee.

Their exposed skin is grey with blotches of blue that seem to grow and shrink at random. They also have milky eyelids that slide across like an eagle and no visible nose or ears. The thunder and lightning are gone, plus the clouds are a lot lighter, but it's still raining lightly. Most of the people, soldiers presumably, are in the tents.

Fon can't see Reborn or Gamma but Leon shifts into a miniature copy of Lal's centipede and jumps down, moving along the ground. Fon watches where Leon goes closely, constantly moving position to dodge the patrols.

In the end Fon has to move around the whole camp to get eyes on the door to the largest cabin. He takes the time to cover himself in even more mud than he's already picked up because being bright red is not making this easier.

He waits up in the crook of a tree branch silently as the sun rises in the sky and the camp appears to wake up fully. The soldiers move from tents to certain cabins, taking turns to get food in packets. It takes a while but finally a soldier opens the door to the cabin Fon is watching, taking several packets of food in.

He can see Gamma sitting up in the back, arms behind his back and legs held together by thick straps, a blotch of red soaked into his shirt. Gamma is looking to the side, somewhere Fon can't see. Reborn isn't visible.

The door shuts and Gamma follows the new soldier with his eyes. The soldier walks around, passing out packets to the men spread around the room. Gamma doesn't get a packet, which he soon realises is food.

Reborn gets one though, the hitman sitting across from a man who seems to be the leader of this camp. These people have been very interested in Reborn ever since they noticed the cut just under his eye, from a piece of broken windshield, was healing on the walk over.

They pulled off the hitman's jacket and shirt and Reborn woke up when they carved a deep line down his arm. He didn't heal it, deliberately holding back his Sun flames, and the soldiers discussed for a while in their sharp language. Then they stabbed Gamma in the stomach and Reborn healed that.

There are several soldiers who are sick in this camp. Maybe they're on an expedition or they're attacking someone, but whatever it is, these people don't seem to be used to the climate or the habitat.

Wounds have festered, bite marks have swollen up to twice the size, and the two field medics can't deal with it.

Gamma isn't allowed to talk to Reborn or vice versa but it's quite clear that Reborn wants to fight back and Gamma has to keep giving him looks to calm down. Fighting it will get them nowhere because neither of them know where the hell they are. Gamma remembers driving and then nothing.

Both of their weapons were taken away even before Gamma woke up being carried over someone's shoulder through rapids, and they keep making threatening motions towards Gamma when Reborn refuses to co-operate.

Reborn has taken to 'struggling' and looking nauseous when he uses Sun flames for longer than two minutes. Gamma has joined in, acting very concerned when Reborn starts swaying, and even attempted to fight off a soldier when they reached for Reborn.

The soldiers are strong, Gamma has ascertained with this. Stronger than most, but also lacking in basic hand to hand combat. They carry discs instead, held flat against a palm with multiple divots around the outside to better fit against fingers.

The disks don't visibly fire anything and don't need to touch either. However, they can paralyse, knock out or cause pain depending on what fingers are in which divots – all of which Gamma has experienced.

"Are you sure?" Reborn says to Gamma, but in response to the leader talking. "Leon says Fon is starting to leave now. He doesn't know about the weapons, but we could run."

Gamma can't reply, not obviously. He moves a bit, scraping his boot against the ground twice like Reborn told him to do for 'no'.

The leader says something back in his slow and rhythmic language, annoyed at the long sentence, and gestures once more to the gun. He can't figure out how it works and Reborn has been trying to charades that he needs the gun to heal better.

"He might not be going for backup," Reborn argues with Gamma's thoughts but his voice stays even. He mimes holding a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. "It could be he doesn't have any. That's why he came alone instead of with Jaeger or whoever was in your car."

The leader holds the gun up to his own head like Reborn instructed, clearly thinks about pulling the trigger, but then points it up and fires instead.

A tiny hole it torn through the roof, the light rain quickly dripping inside, but it's the unsilenced bang that makes the whole room startle. People start talking loudly and frantically outside and several rush in.

Gamma sighs and braces when several soldiers point discs at him.

"It almost worked," Reborn says easily and finally picks up his meal packet in curiosity as chaos reigns around him.

Gamma goes down and Reborn hesitantly nibbles at part of a square biscuit he found in the meal pack. It doesn't taste bad exactly, just a little strange. Someone takes the packet from him roughly, probably upset.

To be fair, it would have been entirely the man's fault if he killed himself. They tie Reborn's arms up again.

Another man comes in soon after though, someone pretty high up who always shows camaraderie with the maybe-leader that interrogates Reborn all the time, unlike the other soldiers who stay stiff and professional.

Comrade likes Reborn and takes the meal packet back before sitting beside him and handfeeding him. Reborn makes sure to lick Comrade's fingers clean after every strange new food because this man is easy prey. Reborn already got Comrade to untie his arms in the first place, it won't take long to get free again. The man likes it and even gets another packet for Reborn. How sweet.

Despite all of Reborn's theatrics when he heals, there are still only two people left to take care of out of the twelve he started with. One of them starts to come in but Reborn leans against Comrade and acts sleepy, ducking down to rub his cheek against the uncomfortable material of the waterproof jacket on Comrade's shoulder.

Comrade waves them off, unties Reborn's arms again and pulls the hitman down onto the ground with him. He orders another soldier to get some kind of electric blanket for Reborn too, which is very warm. Such a gentleman even if he does grab Reborn's ass under the cover.

Reborn pretends to sleep. He hears Gamma wake up a couple hours later and the other man starts shuffling around, getting progressively louder as if trying to 'wake' Reborn. Gamma doesn't like Comrade and gets upset when he sees Reborn too close.

Gamma forgets that Reborn is the world's greatest hitman.

If Reborn wants to snuggle with an alien, then he's going to snuggle with an alien. He is a little disappointed that this one doesn't have tentacles, because Reborn loves a good cliché, but this is fine too.

One soldier or another makes Gamma settle down with a threat and Reborn continues his fake sleep in peace. He does accidentally drift off at points but quickly refocuses when someone moves too much. It's during a period of drifting that Jaeger warps into the cabin.

Reborn snaps Comrade's neck and sits up. Another portal opens on the floor and the three of them plus a guard fall through a short distance, landing with a squelch in mud. Reborn frowns a bit because he just got dry. He awkwardly gets to his feet with help from Fon as Kyouya pins the guard to the ground.

"I don't know what language they speak but they can't understand us either," Gamma says as Squalo attempts to slice through his bindings with the sword. "There's a camp of maybe two hundred and they have weapons that look like discs - there in that man's chest pocket."

Kyouya takes the disc and Jaeger helps search through the rest of the struggling man's clothes. Squalo is having trouble sawing through Gamma's cuffs but Reborn presents a stolen oval keycard that matches a divot in the bands perfectly and the two men are free in a short moment.

"Can you get my guns?" Reborn asks, brushing himself off despite being almost entirely covered in mud.

"Deal with the Millefiore Don first," Jaeger says, pointing towards a cave.

Reborn wanders over and finds Byakuran passed out on the ground with a tie and bit of cloth wrapped around his head. It's a bad concussion but no brain damage and the albino is up on his feet by the time Kyouya gets frustrated with the soldier and knocks him out.

Byakuran happily pats Reborn on the back and then steps out of the cave to look around. "So what are we doing and where is this?"

Gamma fills everyone in on what he saw during the camp while Byakuran messes around with the disc. It doesn't appear to work on or effect the environment so Byakuran practices on the soldier instead until Jaeger takes it away from him.

Byakuran also votes to go to the camp and find some kind of map plus get the weapons, which makes the decision unanimous. Jaeger shouldn't use his short warp except for emergencies, in case he runs out of flames to keep him going since Bermuda isn't here to refill. So Reborn strips the soldier for his disguise and they all walk back to the camp.

Byakuran stops at the river to try and wash all the mud off, then a couple others join him, so they perhaps take longer than necessary to actually reach the place. The soldiers are rushing around and with much tighter security than before.

Reborn in costume leads a few guards at a time into the forest, claiming that he heard something, and the rest take care of the soldiers. People start catching on after a few times and things devolve into all out Guerrilla warfare.

After the chaos, Reborn changes back and helps search the camp while Gamma sends his box animals to scout the area for supply lines that could lead to another camp – or at least to civilisation.

It starts raining heavily again so Fon collects the rain jackets off corpses to pass them out. Squalo learns the tents self-roll themselves into neat backpacks and there are some more strange discs of various colours that Jaeger blocks from Byakuran's hands.

Byakuran has fun rifling through the cabins, scarfing down some food while he's at it. There are some sort of fruit (?) bar things that taste nice and Byakuran opens about a dozen packets just to get to the bars.

Kyouya is the one who finds a fancy holographic map of the region and they all crowd around.

"Let's go there," Byakuran says, finger passing through the hologram and making it spin.

"Why?" Fon wonders. "There are closer towns."

"Yeah, but that one looks like a love heart," Byakuran retorts happily. "So who's with me?"

No one is with Byakuran, but also that's the closest full-sized city and they're much more likely to get information and pass unnoticed in a larger, busier place.

* * *

.

A/N: Do you like it?

If you do enjoy this plot style, come over to Webnovel where I have an original fic like this, called; **Quick Transmigrations With Classmates Who Won't Take This Seriously**. (I know, ridiculous title, but I'm aiming for a particular audience here.)

www. webnovel (. c o m) / book / 14372883205133305 /Quick-Transmigrations-With-Classmates-Who-Won't-Take-This-Seriously


	2. Lab, trapped, outside POV

Begin observation.

The portal has once more opened, producing seven new subjects. Specimen count is now at thirty-four.

Genetic samples indicate close resemblance to subjects η_27, ξ_43 and ζ_35. Of the initial three subjects, two remain (see attached copy of file ΛΠP-7_820 for more information). As subjects ξ_43 and ζ_35 have formed family unit ΛΠP-7 (short hand P-7), it was decided to place the new specimens in a separate observation room (ΦΙ) instead of integrating them.

The new subjects (family designated ΦΙ-4, short hand I-4) immediately become aggressive upon awaking in the observation room. Previous hypothesis of Ι-4 being compatible with P-7 has been revised upon discovery of extra sensory perception (ESP) and accompanying combustion mechanism.

Memo: further research is necessary. Liaise with level 6 benthic ecology lab.

Subject Red (R), designated for the 405-479 frequency of the ESP combustion, begins to atomize the observation room wall, west side. Subjects I-4 are put to sleep for upgrades to be performed.

Atmosphere conditions have been adjusted to a FT-30 environment with the amount of calming agent H9-TR doubled from standard (7.2mg/L), to allow for I-4 to acclimate at a slower rate.

Subject Violet (V), 666-750 frequency, attacks the observation room upon awakening despite the doubled concentration of H9-TR calming agent. Damage is inflicted on the CTT-O wall upgrade, but the self-repairing rate remains far ahead of the output from V. The observation room is deemed unimpaired.

The H9-TR agent is briefly raised to 9.8mg/L but other I-4 subjects become unable to function and their basal metabolic rate drops below what previous studies (ΛΠP-7_712) have deemed a safe level.

The adjusted atmosphere FT-30 with 7.2mg/L H9-TR is reinstated. I-4 are less physically aggressive with the calming agent but they remain mentally distressed.

I-4 are segregated in behaviours, unseen in P-7. Subjects R and V appear to be crowding the other I-4 to the middle of the observation room, pacing the perimeter when not attacking the walls, and constantly hyper aware of changes in the habitat.

Hypothesis; Subjects R and V are dominant.

Subject White (W) (name liable to change) has not yet shown signs of ESP combustion but has instead been designated according to the albino phenotype displayed. W has shown remarkable ability to track the scientists moving in the observation theatre, providing further evidence that the I-4 species may be separated from the P-7 species - who are unable to perceive dynamic stygian colours and thus are unable to perceive the scientists.

Hypothesis; I-4 have varied and individual ESP abilities.

The I-4 subjects are kept on a 76/90 circadian cycle as normal and fed nutrient mix VJ_04. I-4 subjects starve themselves for two cycles before hypothetically dominant R approaches submissive subject Y.

Subject Yellow (Y), 512–540 frequency, transfers the ESP combustion through R without noticeable harm. Subject R begins once more to pace the observation room with no visible signs of fatigue. V also displays the same alleged feeding behaviour.

Hypothesis; Dominants use the submissives to feed.

Testing begins once the I-4 have acclimated, judged by the lack of constant damage to the observation room.

Three cycles since the I-4 were introduced to observation, both dominants are removed and placed in a separate room out of eyesight from the other I-4. The submissives become very distressed and begin once more to attack the walls as a group.

The dominants also turn highly aggressive and calming agent H9-TR is raised to 9.8mg/L, then 10.4mg/L when the lower concentration has too little efficacy on the volatile subjects. Repairs are needed.

Memo: order more H9-TR.

All I-4 subjects settle down once visual proof of all members' good health is verified through CCTV. Subject Blue (B), 610–666 frequency, begins to attack the walls when not pacing the perimeter, becoming a pseudo-dominant in place of the missing subjects R and V.

Subject Fade (F), designated for the inability of the recording equipment to focus on the specimen properly, becomes a pseudo-dominant to a lesser extent. F no longer pretends to sleep, instead remaining alert and watching over the other submissives.

During separation, the dominants are no longer hyper aware when guarding each other. Such protective behaviour is presumably restricted to when in the presence of a submissive.

Memo: new shareholder visit.

Cycle four of observation, the submissives begin to feed from Y – excepting subject F.

Feeding hypothesis adjusted; Y has ESP abilities pertaining to recovery of stamina.

Subject Green (G), 530-597 frequency, is removed and samples are taken to verify nutrient intake immediately after feeding. It is established that subject Y can feed the body cells directly but has no influence over nutrients or macromolecules.

I-4 are starving with clear depletions in hydration and low blood sugar, but the body is not negatively influenced in an energy perspective and subjects do not appear to feel the impact from a lack of food.

R, V and G are returned to the main I-4 facility. Y is removed.

CCTV visual is immediately established between the two rooms in attempt to prevent undue stress. Nutrient mix VJ_04 is supplied in excess with the intention of acclimating subjects to the food and preventing self-harm from starvation.

Subjects I-4 soon realise the intent of this isolation and destroy the nutrient mix with prejudice. After consultation with other senior researchers, subject Y is put to sleep and returned.

Dominant R becomes highly aggressive when Y does not regain consciousness after a cycle and refuses to move too far from the submissive. G brings a brief calm after some communication.

Memo: shareholder lab visit today. Testing on hold. Practice elevator pitch for I-4 presentation.

After two full cycles of Y asleep, R eats the nutrient mix supplied then enforces the action upon the other I-4 subjects. R and F attack each other when F refuses initially but eventually capitulates after further intervention from subject B. Y is taken and returned awake. I-4 resume normal levels of stress.

Memo: shareholder visit again today.

Testing of dominant response to submissive distress using subjects G and V begin with construction of a maze. Testing also includes secondary monitoring of physical attributes as V trials the maze. G is taken and placed within the centre of the testing area while V is placed at the start.

Testing stopped. G and V are returned to observation room.

I-4 observation is being shut down.

Shareholder Kuran has ordered testing to be focused on P-7 specimens. I-4 to be released due to withdrawal of funding.

End observation.

* * *

"Thank you, other me," Byakuran says happily.

Something amorphous shifts beside them, both larger and smaller all at once. It makes a deep, low sound that's just barely within human hearing range.

"Okay then," Squalo mutters with a grimace. "Let's go before we have to eat some more disgusting sludge."

Jaeger is the first to step through the next portal, located within the same facility but in the basement levels. Jaeger is also still upset about the food.

Kyouya and Gamma follow close after then it's Reborn, Fon hovering over the hitman protectively even though the short coma doesn't seem to have left any damage.

Squalo gives the alternate Byakuran…_thing_ one last look and leaves to the next world, just a step closer to their original but still far away if the map of the multiverse they stole is correct. Fuck, Squalo really hopes it's correct.

Byakuran throws his other self a thumbs up and steps backwards into the portal, feeling the air become more solid for a brief second before falling through the other side.

* * *

.

A/N: I think this is going to be kind of similar to A Brief Foray; updates when I find a nice universe I like. I've been thinking about Stephen King's The Mist.

If you want to read anything with a survival touch (e.g. desert, slums, monsters, etc) then give me some prompts and I'll see what I can do.


	3. Underground, confined, overpopulation

Summary: No one knows why humanity was pushed underground, cowering together in the dark. Kyouya hates crowds.

Background: Underground, confined spaces, overpopulation

.

* * *

Kyouya steps over another body as he moves through the tight, humid tunnel. People are slumped against the walls, trying to sleep through the hunger or perhaps too far gone to move. Kyouya has to step over their thin, bruise-ridden legs.

The overhead lights flicker if they even work at all so Kyouya steps carefully, not using his flames to light his way because the Vindice gets fussy.

Kyouya did try to maintain order when they first arrived, but people have a distinct lack of fear once they've accepted their inevitable death. Kyouya's sudden introduction of blunt force trauma seemed to be nothing when compared to decades of slow suffering.

So then Kyouya hit them harder until the herbivores finally responded.

Fon and the Lightning stopped Kyouya after a while, once he cleared out an adequately sized hole in the wall. There's not enough room in this place, the previous metal walls broken down and rusted, make-shift rooms branching off the small hallways and dug straight through the earth by desperate fingers, worn away through generations.

The earth is always crumbling and often damp, so the people already cut down by starvation and a stationary lifestyle can't fend off the spread of disease. There are corpses everywhere, stacked up sometimes when they block the hallway.

The baby in Kyouya's arms starts weakly turning. He pats it gently and shushes the tiny thing.

People not doing their work or sick or just unlucky enough to be picked are thrown into this section of the tunnels to die. It's something like purging to stop overpopulation. No pregnant woman could last through a single month here so Kyouya thinks it might be the babies themselves that are thrown out alone.

There is a 'nice' section, or 'nicer' perhaps, where the majority of the population lives. Still broken and packed too tight but with almost enough food and jobs like farming or cleaning to keep people active and concentrate their minds on something.

The section is, however, better regulated and they track everyone's identity to ration the food properly. Kyouya first appeared in that section, stepping out of the portal and onto farmland that smelled distinctly of human sewage.

The snowflake has no living copy in this place, dead close enough to birth that he never actually lived, so they wandered the tunnels to get a better understanding of the layout. The hitman stole some potato seed pieces from the farms to grow with Sun flames, and the Rain shoved a crudely made metal cup half full with water at Kyouya to propagate.

Kyouya turns left into the temporary base, shoes splashing in the shallow mud collecting at the bottom.

"No," Jaeger says firmly. "You need to stop."

Kyouya walks past the man who's tending to the small potato patch, and instead crouches in front of the hitman. Reborn is sitting cross-legged against a wall with a baby resting on his lap and another in his arms.

"Kyouya," Fon says softly, his tunic cut short because he used the lengthy bottom to wrap up the babies for warmth. "Perhaps you should stay here from now on. Concentrate on the water supply."

Kyouya holds out the baby. It won't last much longer, Kyouya found it too late. The tunnels are so dark and the baby was so quiet.

Reborn's skin is glowing but his eyes are dark. "I'll take care of two, Kyouya. Which one's neck should I snap?"

"Reborn," Fon berates, moving over. Red swirls slow and thick under his skin, bleeding through his clothes like magma. Fon crouches beside Kyouya and lays a hand on his shoulder. "Squalo and Byakuran are searching the last tunnel now and they likely won't find the next portal here. We have to go to the surface and we can't take the children with us."

Kyouya is still locked with Reborn's eyes.

A moment later, they hear two sets of footsteps and then Byakuran's theatrical sigh. "You know, Kyouya, the issue here is overpopulation." Byakuran grins, bright and hollow. "Just kill enough of them that they'll beg for the little brats back."

"Did you find it?" Jaeger looks from Byakuran to Squalo.

The Rain shakes his head, hair swinging out and brushing along the muddy walls. Everyone is already caked in the dirt so it makes no difference. "Nothing. We have to go up."

Reborn shifts the baby in his arms, wrapping a hand around its neck.

"Enough," Kyouya snaps. "This one." He puts the newest baby in Reborn's lap and takes the one there.

This baby is both the first Kyouya picked up as well as the oldest of the bunch, more of a toddler than a baby. Kyouya found it near a man's fresh corpse, the toddler still holding onto a hand, so it must have been taken care of to live this long.

Kyouya has been here for two weeks now, while all of them split up to scan the tunnels as fast as possible, so the child is now healthy and filled out with flickers of the hitman's gold in its eyes. Kyouya can take the child to the border and give it to the guards. They wouldn't dare to reject a healthy child.

Kyouya walks past the others on his way out and Byakuran gives a little finger wiggle at the child to say goodbye. The guards are wary of Kyouya, dressed in a tailored suit with a quality that's still visible under the grime. They call for someone higher up who then takes the child with wide eyes and shaking hands.

"There are two more," Kyouya says.

"Where are they?" the woman in charge asks. Her eyes narrow in suspicion. "Where are you getting the food?"

"Do you want them or not?"

She rears back. "Yes. Yes, the healthy ones."

"Tomorrow," Kyouya states and then turns to leave.

They already know where the exit is, sitting near the garbage dump and guarded constantly in case someone who understands what the door leads to decides to take their chances outside. Now that they've confirmed the portal is on the surface, they're not going to waste time down here.

Kyouya takes the first corner and waits. Twenty minutes later, a guard passes by carrying another child maybe five years old, weak with wet coughing.

These people subscribe to the thought of 'replacement'. If someone dies, mostly of sickness, then a new baby can be taken care of. But there's no birth control and people are lonely, so the population still fluctuates. Sometimes a particularly sick adult is thrown out instead.

Kyouya steps out of the side corridor, takes the child with one arm and cracks the guard's skull open with a tonfa.

One out, one in.

The other guard watching from not too far away cries out in alarm. Kyouya sets the child down and urges it back towards the main sector with a push of fingers against its back. It stumbles and falls. Kyouya frowns. The hitman did say only two babies, but this is an older child, so it's different. Kyouya holsters his tonfa and lifts the child into his arms.

No one chases him for the dead guard. A single life isn't worth the fuss.

"Kyouya," Gamma sighs, having just returned from his own exploration.

"Any baby or child," Reborn clarifies, knowing immediately how Kyouya will try to spin this. "Any creature, human or otherwise. Only two."

Gamma looks between the little children. "We're leaving soon regardless. It wouldn't hurt to fix this one up a bit."

"Then go right ahead and fix them, Gamma," Reborn deadpans. "Because I've been stuck here from nearly day one taking care of the kids, and the damn potatoes, while you lot frolicked around and left me alone for days at a time. I am not built to be a house husband, okay? And I don't even get a house, you assholes put me in a cave!"

Kyouya frowns. "There will be no more children after this," he promises.

"No more anything," Reborn demands. "I will use my flames for nothing except killing people."

"Voooi!" Squalo jabs his sword in Reborn's direction. "You're a Sun, this is what you're supposed to be doing! You grow shit and heal trash!"

"I want a divorce!" Reborn retorts.

Jaeger makes a face, but the exact expression is hidden behind bandages. "Just fix the child, we're leaving tomorrow anyway and we need rest instead of an argument."

"Fon," Reborn complains.

All of the Arcobaleno understand quite intimately that Reborn is not the healing type. If they get fatally injured then they just have to wait for death because Reborn is not going to do anything to help them.

Except Reborn has always cracked at the end and used his flames anyway, just like with Byakuran's serious concussion after the car crash, just like the last world when they were wary of the food sludge and starving themselves.

Fon understands Reborn's point but there is a good reason for the hitman to use his flames. "It's only one more day," Fon coaxes.

Kyouya sits the child beside Reborn and lets it flop over the hitman's lap not currently taken over by the baby curled up there.

* * *

Gamma is the one to trade the children back over because Kyouya just killed someone yesterday. Kyouya wants to wait and see if another child will be thrown out but the rest usher him forward and Reborn kills three people who are blocking the way just to stare at the strangers in fancy clothes, thereby removing the risk of a 'replacement' being thrown out.

The exit is down a long hallway so Squalo takes point and just ploughs right through the first set of guards, the next set flattening themselves against the wall to try and get out of the way.

The bare earthen walls near their camp are always damp in this place so there's a lot of rain on the surface, maybe a tropical climate. It's not an ocean or a wide river because the amount of water would have collapsed the tunnels already.

The ancient metal door opens inwards after a struggle and the wall of dirt standing just outside has been compacted so much that it's now near solid. Fon switches to the front and lights up with Storm flames, burning a human shaped hole straight through, Gamma following close behind with a hand trailing along the walls to keep the dirt hardened with Lightning flames just in case it tries to cave in.

Fon finds stairs and they all move in a long line as they slowly head up the incline. Jaeger shuts the metal door behind him and ducks low with his top hat in his hands. Jaeger is the tallest so it's a bit difficult to fit into the path Fon disintegrates for them.

Byakuran holds his not so white anymore jacket wrapped around the potatoes as a pseudo bag. In the first world, they didn't think they needed proper supplies because Kyouya could just propagate food and water. All they took was the multiverse map of all the portals that could lead them home. In the second world they left in a rush so that didn't help either.

It takes two hours of non-stop walking to finally reach the surface. The stairs were rather flat because a small rail line was installed beside it for a train system, yet it still took more time than they predicted. Two hours in a tunnel barely wide enough to fit their shoulders, Jaeger still hunched over. It's just lucky none of them are claustrophobic but Kyouya was getting twitchy.

Kyouya moves to the front because Reborn refuses to be the lab rat and Kyouya can theoretically regrow pieces of himself if something accidentally gets cut off. Fon opens a small hole on the ground, Gamma ready to seal it in case of the air being poisonous or acid rain.

Kyouya drops to his knees and sticks his head out of a grassy mound, nothing but rolling hills out to the horizon full of blooming flowers with colours blending together and half swallowed by the tall green grass swaying in the light, refreshing breeze.

Kyouya crawls out and takes a better look, recognising skeletons of buildings engulfed by nature. Maybe a small town or the outskirts of a city.

"It's fine," Kyouya calls back.

"Fine how?" Byakuran asks. "Is there a tingling sensation? Like your face is about to melt off?"

Kyouya doesn't humour that with a response. Fon burns away a bigger exit and they all pile out, several breathing a sigh of relief at the open sky.

Squalo looks around warily. Nothing seems off immediately, no patches where plants won't or can't grow, nothing like craters sinking in the land. "Why did they go down in the first place?"

There's a rapid clicking sound and something like a giant bear with a human face stretched out into a deer's snout stands up from within the tall grass on six triple-jointed gorilla arms jutting out like a spider.

"Back we go," Byakuran hums, turning around and making for the tunnel.

Reborn looks from its head, filled with three sets of razor-sharp teeth, all the way down to the seven fingered hands. "Viper can do worse."

About a thousand more of these creatures rise up in a ripple outwards, the group stretching all the way out until their far off forms are nothing but dots of colour among the grass, and rapid clicking fills the endless hills, getting loud enough that they would have to scream over it to be heard.

Squalo seems to take this as a challenge and bellows even louder than the clicking as he charges the closest ones. Byakuran drops his potato filled jacket and jumps up to dodge a creature's grabbing fist, his wings catching him and taking him higher where he takes pot shots with Sky fireballs.

Gamma releases his wolves before unholstering his gun. Jaeger throws off his hat and cloak, chains dropping down around him only to then whip up and rip a creature's head off. The sky fills with streaks of gold as a Chaos Shot rains down across the hills.

Fon punches one in the face hard enough that the skull crumples inwards and Kyouya does the same to another creature's ribcage with his tonfas.

None of them have had a good fight in a while and the stress that's been slowly building up ever since they got 'lost' in the multiverse finally has a release.


End file.
